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Mef it was like that Kit ConnorHeartstopper could have ended very differently. “If I had my way, Nick and Charlie would be doing those stupid things to each other,” he said recently. Guardian. “Because young people do that and there is no need to be ridiculed for that.”
In the middle Heartstopper ForeverThe finale of the Netflix series, I began to see the point. Alice Oceman’s lovebirds are now 18 and 17 years old, and like most teenagers they have sex, get drunk and fight with their annoying siblings. Unlike most people their age, they don’t vape, they don’t use sex apps and they don’t cheat.
If you know anything about Heartstopper, the YA feel it came from Alice Oseman‘s blockbuster graphic novels, this should come as no surprise. Criticizing Heartstopper for being too healthy is like complaining that your hot chocolate is too rich – self-indulgence is the happy point. And while a few bumps in the road await the characters in Heartstopper Forever, the film is careful to reassure us that it’s getting better, even as his teenage life begins to feel like make-believe.
It’s their last year together at the fictional Truham Grammar School, with Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) is a rock solid duo, rubber-stamped like a few scores. Although the previous seasons of Heartstopper have focused on teenage events – whether the two meet, say “I love you” or have sex – the character of Heartstopper Forever is more complex, asking if the relationships of young people can really be adults.
No spoilers here – but if you know anything about the franchise, you can predict if Nick and Charlie will make it in the end. But Heartstopper Forever doesn’t know how to get there. The film covers a year in the life of this family in two hours and four episodes (Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer plus an epilogue). With little to tie the episodes together, it often feels like a slapdash game of Issues Bingo. Nick is a borderline alcoholic crippled by anxiety at the beginning of the film, but manages to overcome his demons by working as an animal rescue. Charlie’s eating disorder from the third season resurfaces his head but he seems to have been cured by seeing Derek Jacobiwho came as half of a sweet gay family. Friends Tao and Elle’s relationship is on the show but the film has no problem explaining why, an odd oversight of people who were previously given almost as much screen time as the show manages.
The movie is often more concerned with making a love letter to the franchise itself rather than taking the characters elsewhere. The scene of Nick and Charlie hanging out on a cold day is a repeat of the first moment when the couple make snow angels, while the magic of going back to where they first kissed is tempered by one of the many visual effects. It’s like the filmmakers are worried that the audience was involved shown again all the while, showing a surprising lack of faith in the show’s notoriously dedicated team.
Even Heartstopper Forever seems to believe that viewers stay current, with honest PSAs about LGBTQ+ rights. “The government is taking away my freedom and everything we fought for,” says Elle, a friend of the couple. “If I was a few years younger I wouldn’t be able to legally take hormonal contraceptives.” There is a sad truth to his message, but it is surprising that he never mentioned this part of his gender-affirming journey – almost as if the writers were more interested in ensuring that they were on the right side of the current political conversation than giving new depth to their character’s story.
The main Heartstopper team became more important to the show as the seasons progressed, until the end of the entire season was devoted to the stories of non-binary Darcy and his family. (Darcy’s most notable development in Heartstopper Forever is a new haircut.) Thank goodness for one-of-a-kind moments for the delightful Rhea (Imogen Heaney), who announces she’s gay as if she’d just won the Olympics, and Charlie’s sister, Tori, whose voice is one of her sexiest movies. He said: “Maybe living together is different from how you live together, or living together. “But it’s ours, and we’re happy about it.”
It’s one of the rare moments in Heartstopper Forever that doesn’t feel overly contrived. Although it is interesting to know that both Nick and Charlie are kings, the sex scenes are very strange (a very strange choice because all the actors are 22). There’s a lot of butt, no bad gun to get rid of afterwards – and none of the trouble viewers can remember about their teenage experiences. In one scene of the evening, they pull the car hastily to have fun outside – Charlie puts his hands under Nick’s jeans before shooting the sky to show that there is no one within 500ft, as if the filmmakers are looking for a big sign that reads: no late-night dog walkers are disturbed by this explosion.
The magic of Heartstopper lies in its beauty, but part of Nick and Charlie’s brilliance comes from a group that Heartstopper Forever largely ignores. The film doesn’t have its moments of horror, but the slow pacing, unsettling Easter eggs and montages often make it feel like he’s watching his camera as he tries to put the perfect bow on the family dog’s love. Nick and Charlie are supposed to be adults, but Heartstopper Forever treats them with kid gloves.
